


Ever As Before

by wynnebat



Category: Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Feelings Realization, Happy Ending, Humor, M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25499752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wynnebat/pseuds/wynnebat
Summary: Almost always, Gaston can persevere with his cleverness and his muscles and his good fortune, but sometimes, he is desperately in need of comfort. It’s irritating, but it’s true. He is no one-man army.Especially now, when Belle reveals the real reason why she always turns him down: jealousy!
Relationships: Gaston/LeFou (Disney)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 189
Collections: Rare Male Slash Exchange 2020





	Ever As Before

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DreamsInPinkandGold](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamsInPinkandGold/gifts).



Gaston begins the hunt with a scowl that does not lessen during the first hour, nor the second, nor the third. He shoots and misses twice, his expressing growing darker, and the clean air does not refresh his mood. His heart does not pound with the rush of the hunt, nor does his blood sing with anticipation. He does not do the hunt justice by going out in this manner, but he had been unable to stay in the village for one moment longer. Hours ago, he grabbed his gun and LeFou, and announced to no one where they were going. It is a strange, somber day, one that started out so well and has now gained a layer of gloom, shooting off like a poorly made musket.

“Gaston, won’t you tell me what’s wrong?” LeFou says once again, scrambling to keep up with Gaston as they walk.

With a deep sigh, Gaston finally replies, “It’s Belle.”

He slows his pace. If they must speak of this situation, then LeFou must pay attention to his words, not waste his breath keeping up.

“Belle?” LeFou sounds confused. “Is this about last week?”

Last week had been disappointing, but it had not downed Gaston’s spirits to such an extent. “No. I saw her this morning while she bought her eggs and bread. She revealed to me the real reason for why she has not accepted my suit.”

“Oh,” LeFou says. He reaches out to pat Gaston’s shoulder. His hand lingers comfortingly. “There, there, my friend. You can’t blame her for not being interested, even if you are a handsome mountain of a man who I can’t imagine anyone would scorn.”

Gaston quits walking entirely in favor of taking a seat on a fallen tree. Partly because this is a serious matter that must be discussed slowly and with gravity, partly because this way LeFou can comfort him more easily. Gaston has always found his friend’s presence to be a solace in hard times. Almost always, Gaston can persevere with his cleverness and his muscles and his good fortune, but sometimes, he is desperately in need of aid. It’s irritating, but it’s true. He is no one-man army—especially when it comes to matters of the heart.

“That isn’t why she turned me down. She said it was for my own good. Belle, she is— protecting me from her own jealousy!”

“That doesn’t sound like her,” LeFou says, carefully. “Are you sure you—”

“ _Yes,_ LeFou. I will tell you her exact words, every heartbreaking syllable. I told her I knew her faults and forgave her them, but she said…” With a cough, Gaston pitches his voice high to match Belle’s, but does not quite manage it and reverts to his usual manly tone after a few words. “Gaston, don’t you understand that we aren’t compatible? We could never be together. I am— well, I am jealous! There, you see it? I am terribly jealous. You wouldn’t be able to speak with the triplets as you do if I were my wife.”

“But you hardly speak to them at all,” LeFou says.

“Exactly! Then she went on to say that neither could I speak with widows.”

“Oh, I can see that one.”

Gaston shakes his head. “I cannot. I would never speak to a widow again if I could have Belle! I would ignore all of them for the sake of her beauty.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“She said, and I tell you this in her words: neither can you spend all your time with LeFou.”

LeFou starts, his mouth dropping open. “What? But Belle… she’s so nice. Would she really…”

With a solemn look, Gaston nods. “I argued as well, but she said that she would be a terribly jealous wife, that we could never drink in the tavern or hunt together again. That if I were her husband, I must spend time with her, not my friends. I would have to devote my time to her. LeFou, don’t you see? I would have to _choose_.”

For a moment, LeFou’s hand on his shoulder stills, then continues in comforting circles. “Gaston… could Belle be, you know… having you on… to discourage your interest in her?”

“You would call my Belle a liar?”

“No! She’s, uh, wonderful. Of course she would never lie.”

Desolate, Gaston rests his head in his hands and imagines a life with the love of his life, but without LeFou. Before today, he thought he would do anything for Belle. Even now, he knows that he would give up Tom, Dick, and Stanley for her if she asked. But LeFou? His oldest friend, his confidant, his hunting buddy? The man on whom Gaston has spilled his woes and his drink, who has done nothing but stay loyal to him all this time? Gaston is a greedy man, he will admit this. He likes his drink and he likes his food, and he likes his pleasures and his companionships. Gaston’s palms feel hot on his face and his elbows dig into his knees. LeFou’s hand feels as though it is the last tether he has to anything that makes sense.

After a while, LeFou inches closer and wraps an arm around Gaston’s shoulders. His side is familiar, as is the press of his thigh against Gaston’s. Gaston cannot imagine never feeling this again. Rarely has anyone called Gaston a coward or deemed him indecisive, but in this moment he does not want to return to the village. He would stay here forever, just like this.

It is LeFou who speaks next. There is a strange note to his words. “Would you leave me? If your future wife really asked it of you? I don’t— I’m sure Belle will change her mind. She’s very kind. But another woman might not be so happy with our friendship. We spend our days together more often than not. Sometimes our nights, when you can’t be bothered to walk home after the tavern.”

“That is on you for living across from the tavern,” Gaston tells him. Those are good nights, full of laughter and beer and collapsing into LeFou’s bed with a smile on his lips. Sleep comes easily on those nights, with LeFou beside him, warm and solid. “An excellent location.”

“One that you take advantage of,” LeFou huffs. “I’d never kick you out of bed.” Within moments, he corrects himself, and adds, “What I mean is— Gaston— our lives will change when you marry. It’s going to happen. You’ll spend more time with your wife and kids, and I will, well. Maybe I’ll seek out Stanley.”

“ _Stanley_?” Gaston says. He lifts his head from his hands and faces LeFou, making a face. “What does Stanley have that I don’t? You’re _my_ friend. Stanley can’t have you.”

“In this scenario, you’re married,” LeFou reminds him as though Gaston needs such a reminder.

“Nothing has to change,” Gaston grumbles. His words sound weak even to himself. He cannot stand weakness.

LeFou sighs. He looks out into the forest, perhaps seeking an animal for them to hunt. Today, LeFou is the better hunter. “Everything changes. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but… you’ll get married one day and you won’t have time for all of this anymore. I need to be ready for that. Stanley, he understands.”

What could Stanley understand that Gaston could not? It is laughable, the idea that one day Stanley would supersede Gaston’s place in LeFou’s life. But is it really? Gaston’s future wife would have to come first to him. Marriage is a holy thing, a vow that matters more than Gaston’s former oath to the military or any promises he made to LeFou in the past.

“Come on,” LeFou says, standing up from the fallen tree and stretching his back. “Aren’t we here to hunt? Impress me, Gaston.”

Gaston has barely noticed an animal during the trip. He glances at the ground, shame-faced, and looks up again to say, “I can’t impress you this time. I’ll drop my gun. I’ll shoot a tree.”

Bizarrely, this does not dampen LeFou’s spirits. Instead he smiles and holds a hand out for Gaston. “I’ve always been impressed with you. I’m not going to stop.”

Gaston takes his hand and pulls himself up off the fallen tree. LeFou does not hasten to let him go. They stand there for too long. Gaston is not a thinker—he is a doer—but he is frozen like a deer before a predator, unsure of what it is that he should do. LeFou is so near to him, his hand in Gaston’s, his gaze steadying in its devotion. He is a good friend. The very best that one could have. Gaston looks at him and cannot tear his gaze away.

“LeFou…” he murmurs, and sees the hope in LeFou’s gaze, but Gaston does not continue. What can he say? What promises can he make? “Aren’t you upset with me?”

LeFou nods slightly. “If I have any choice in the matter… I don’t want you to leave me.”

“You’re a good friend, LeFou,” Gaston tells him earnestly. Perhaps another man would add _better than I deserve_ , but that would be absurd. Gaston deserves the best. He deserves devoted, enchanted people around him. “Let’s go. This won’t be our last hunt.”

And with that, he lets go of LeFou’s hand, and ignores the impact of chilly air against his skin.

They hunt together, with LeFou on the lookout and Gaston with his musket. True to Gaston’s words, he cannot seem to hold true to his usual talent and skill, but LeFou does not seem to mind. Gaston is quiet as they scour the forest, while LeFou talks quietly of nothing in particular. Almost nonstop, as if he has been reminded that one day their words to each other would not be so unlimited. The sun will set on their friendship.

Gaston’s head buzzes with thoughts clashing against each other, too loud and hard. This is why he does not like to think.

Eventually, they are forced to return to the village empty-handed. Gaston can only be happy that he had not announced their hunt, for then he would have to explain his lack of meat.

For the first time in so long, he does not wish to speak with Belle when he sees her standing by the fountain. But Gaston is no coward. Cowards do not have muscles such as his or friends such as LeFou.

“Belle!” he calls out.

Beside him, a soft, hurt sound leaves LeFou’s lips.

Gaston quickens his pace before Belle can get away. At a slower pace, LeFou follows, stopping a fair bit away while Gaston joins Belle at the fountain.

“Belle, my darling,” Gaston says, catching her hands in his. His words are familiar, well-trodden, but he has never taken his solemn tone with her. “I must retract my suit.”

She mumbles something—perhaps “thank God” although his Belle would never be that way—and slips her hands out of his.

“You are devastated, of course,” Gaston acknowledges.

“Of course,” Belle says, nodding swiftly. “I’ll think of this moment for the rest of my life with—”

“Sadness.”

“—understanding,” Belle says instead.

Gaston smiles at her. It’s not quite up to his usual standard. His chest feels strange. “I understand, too. You were kind to warn me of your jealousy. You must love me very much to have told me so. I cannot be the man you want me to be and it pains me, but this is better, isn’t it? To know now instead of later. Is this why you’re always reading books, to be so wise?”

“I— yes, maybe,” Belle says, tentatively returning his smile. “Books have many lessons to teach us.”

Gaston picks up the book that slipped from her grip when he held her hands, and gives it back to her. “In my absence, you must seek comfort from books until you find someone who loves you just as jealously.”

“Thanks, Gaston,” Belle replies. She seems bemused. Gaston decides she must be covering her deep sadness with a smile. “What about you? Who will you court now? One of the triplets?”

“No, not them.” Gaston looks back. LeFou is gone. “Excuse me, Belle.”

Belle makes no fuss about him leaving her, no matter how much it must pain her. Gaston admires her for it. He may not want to marry her, but he acknowledges her beauty and her fiery spirit. Her future husband would be a fine man indeed who would forsake the rest of the world for her! Gaston could never be that man. Not when LeFou is here.

He crosses the courtyard to knock on LeFou’s front door, then opens it, assured of his usual welcome. Upon seeing his friend, Gaston announces, “I’ve told Belle that I cannot be her man. She’s out by the fountain now, staring into the water and mourning our romance.”

LeFou laughs a little breathlessly. “You chose me over Belle? Gaston…” He is across the room in seconds, standing as close to Gaston as he had in the forest, then closer. They are not touching, but it is only barely. “I’m going to do something.”

“Thank me?” Gaston would accept LeFou’s thanks happily.

“Yes,” LeFou says.

And then there is no distance between them at all. LeFou presses up, his hands over Gaston’s shoulders once more, this time to steady himself as he kisses Gaston. Chest to chest, lip to lip, and Gaston does more than let him. He kisses him back.

“Thank you,” LeFou says. He leaves one last kiss against Gaston’s lips but doesn’t pull away.

Gaston suddenly remembers that his hands are around LeFou’s waist and his body is bent to accommodate the difference in their heights. He doesn’t change a thing. It makes perfect sense; if he must let one person go, then he must pull another close. Especially when this person is the friend who has been so devoted to him and who was upset at the thought of Gaston leaving him.

“You must promise to stay impressed with me,” Gaston tells him. Otherwise Gaston may begin to fret about how much he does not know about this new, exciting idea that blooms into view: the possibility that he could choose LeFou above all others.

LeFou’s smile is so brilliant that Gaston forgets what he did to deserve it. “I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm also on [Tumblr](https://wynnefic.tumblr.com/).


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